Ch.0Chapter 0

# Episode 0: Arto, Minister of Execution

“Here are the approval documents, including today’s work reports and various materials.”

[Quest: Fresh Start to the Day]

[You’ve woken up refreshed today, and customized tasks have been prepared just for you!]

‘…I don’t want to do this.’

As always, faced with the incoming workload, I suddenly felt a renewed sense of annoyance.

“Understood.”

But contrary to my thoughts…

My body, like an answering machine, naturally accepted the approval documents.

And began processing them at a rapid pace without hesitation.

Of course, regardless of these ingrained actions, I couldn’t help feeling particularly irritable today.

-Ding!

[It has been 10 years since you started playing this game. Excessive gaming may interfere with normal daily life.]

Thanks to that mocking status window bastard, I was forcibly reminded that I’ve been trapped in this world…

A ridiculously obscure SF management strategy simulation game, for over 10 years now.

“Haa… damn it.”

What’s worse, I didn’t even end up in the nation I had created and played in the game, but in some random no-name generated nation that I never expected to appear in.

‘…Status window, nation.’

While I was thinking about it, I decided to open the status window I used to check frequently in the original game to assess the current situation.

And while I was at it, to check my own status as well.

[Name: Arto Virtalius Seveli]

[Age: 29]

[Gender: Male]

[Race: Sevelian]

[Position: Minister of Execution, Holy Seveli Empire]

[Current Status: Normal]

[Holy Seveli Empire]

[Current Overall Ranking: 5th]

[Population: 67 billion (2 billion increase from previous month)]

[Political System: Empire, Theocracy]

[Constituent Races: Sevelian (61%), Janiradian (15%), Kar-Du (8%), Ztrakian (6%), Itrelian (5%), Rixi (5%), Others (5%)]

[Current Ruler: Emperor Artraia Beliad Penashu Khan Seveli]

‘…Hmph, I’ve raised it quite impressively.’

Of course, I wasn’t the one who built it from the beginning.

If it had started like the original game with just a single planet, it would have been impossible to create a great empire in just 10 years.

Perhaps that’s why the point at which I was incarnated was when the empire was first established.

In other words, the setting applied was about 100 years after the original starting point of the game.

Because of that, the empire had already grown to some extent, but…

‘It was still treated as a rural country tucked away in a corner of the galaxy.’

No matter how much they called themselves an empire, from the perspective of the entire galaxy, they were just one of many nations.

Moreover, with poor military power and the worst diplomatic relations with neighboring countries due to the previous emperor’s continued blunders, it was a dire situation.

But besides those issues, there were many other problems, and many still remain, but…

After all my painstaking efforts, it has grown to this extent.

‘I’m not usually emotional, but today I feel like crying.’

In the original game, I could just click and fleets would move, and everything would be handled automatically!

Here, I’m incarnated in the game, and even though I have a status window!

Instead of finishing things with a click, I have to handle every single detail meticulously, nearly splitting my head open more times than I can count!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, things have been resolved well, and I’ve settled into my position nicely, so it’s all good.

Besides, in a way, I’ve made an incredible career advancement compared to my previous life.

From being just an ordinary civilian, in this world I’m a power player who can influence space diplomacy?!

It feels like appearing in a light novel with such a title, giving me complicated feelings in many ways.

‘It’s quite strange, considering that at my core, I’m nothing but a weak and ordinary person.’

Sometimes I can feel the admiration and awe directed at me in the eyes of the people in this world.

‘But I didn’t succeed because I was special.’

Without cheat abilities or anything else, just with a bit of effort, luck, and knowledge of the original game system, I don’t have anything particularly special…

Whenever I receive such gazes, it makes me feel quite complicated.

‘I’m just a simple and ordinary person, well, maybe a little special but…’

So when I see others overestimating me unnecessarily, I somehow feel a strong sense of discomfort.

In the end, I’m just an ordinary civilian who can indulge in a bit of self-praise, and I wish people wouldn’t place too many expectations on me.

————————-

But such thoughts were merely Arto’s personal opinions.

“The Minister? He’s truly an amazing person.”

Not only the civil servants of the Execution Ministry where Arto primarily resides (semi-forcibly).

“With him, I believe we can accomplish anything.”

“He’s our boss!”

The Purge Squad, the combat force of the Execution Office.

“The Minister’s mental processing speed is unparalleled, especially shining in crisis situations.”

“Would you say he’s the most reliable leader?”

The Empire’s think tank.

“If that man had been around during the late former Emperor’s time, the Empire would have dominated the entire western galaxy and more.”

“His confidence during the Janiradia campaign… it was truly captivating.”

The social circles of the Empire’s high nobility.

“Thanks to him, our Empire has been able to exert tremendous influence in this galaxy.”

“When everyone else fails to find an answer, he instantly displays brilliant wit and intellect, making it impossible to gauge the limits of his strategic mind.”

High-ranking officials.

“I heard that man resolved another issue?”

“Thanks to him, conflicts at the border have decreased, how wonderful!”

Soldiers on the frontlines.

“The Minister? Oh my, that man keeps bugs like us fed!”

“You disrespectful bastard, can’t you speak properly with respect!”

Even criminals in back alleys and slums.

In the Holy Seveli Empire, those who knew of Arto, regardless of race or gender, tended to hold him in extremely high regard.

Of course, such favorable assessments weren’t the only opinions about him.

“…According to rumors, he’s actually a psychopath.”

“They say he sometimes personally conducts torture.”

Starting with such typical slanderous stories.

“The reason the Minister is still unmarried is… they say it’s because he’s covered in fur.”

“What? I heard it was because he has mechanical parts?”

“Ugh, idiots.”

…There were also some rather bizarre types of slander.

“To be honest, I believe the Minister’s abilities and reputation themselves pose a threat to the Empire.”

“That’s right, even if the Minister himself claims to have no desire for power, if he were to change his mind even slightly…”

There were also those who genuinely perceived him as a threat, making him a figure surrounded by various complex evaluations.

Of course, this only applied within the Empire.

——————

“The Seveli Execution Minister? Don’t even mention that bastard.”

“Because of him and his subordinates, the spy network we painstakingly established was completely dismantled, damn it.”

“Oh my lord! If you destroy this too, what will we eat to survive?!”

“Look at them complaining after having their black markets, slave markets, and all sorts of strange establishments torn down when they tried to set them up.”

Nations outside the Empire.

Especially the intelligence organizations of various countries that frequently attempt to establish spy networks.

And to criminal organizations aspiring to dominate the underworld, he was truly an object of terror.

“What the hell, how did an agent sent for a honey trap end up being converted instead?”

“Dunno.”

“Did your agents get converted? Our agent who was supposed to use a honey trap became a civil service slave.”

“Oh.”

“We had a commander of a secret base who disappeared one day and reappeared later, transformed into a cute female idol.”

They responded to various organizations in such bizarre ways that no one could predict what would happen to their agents next.

And beyond these intelligence agencies, in the realm of intergalactic diplomacy…

“Ah… that Seveli Minister? I thought he was the Foreign Minister.”

“He’s essentially the one who stopped Prosnak’s expansion, isn’t he?”

“I hate to say this, but… there’s virtually no one who can match him in the political and diplomatic fields of the current Galactic Alliance.”

“Seveli, those country bumpkins… honestly, no one expected them to grow this significant in just 10 years.”

“Despite losing numerous resource zones and border fortresses due to the Itrelan Treaty, they’ve managed to recover to their original state.”

Beyond the assessments of intelligence organizations, he was evaluated as virtually the savior of the Empire.

And…

All those evaluations, collected by someone for some purpose, were accidentally seen by Arto.

———————

“…”

[Abnormal Status: Heartburn, Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia, Diabetes ON]

“Why are you doing this to me?”

In the midst of my busy work, a status window suddenly appeared, tormenting me, and I don’t understand why.

Is this some kind of 10th anniversary surprise?

If it really is…

‘Just die, please.’

Once again, I hurled a curse at that damned status window and whoever dropped me into this world…

“Grumble.”

And had to endure a time of suffering with heartburn, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes.